Thanks John for the advice. Nancy John Light wrote: > > Nancy - I am sorry, but I won't be able to help you with the census > look-up offer. I do not have indices for the census. Census research > has essentially two steps. You must first find an index for the census > year and state you are researching at a genealogy library, online or CD > and look up the names you are interested in or you believe might be the > head of a household. If you have a Family History Library near you, > this is a good place to start and a volunteer can show you how to do an > index look-up; this is how I learned. Some public libraries will have > their own state index. With the head of household name you will find > the resident county and township (keep in mind I only have Lebanon Co. > years 1850-80) AND the page number in that census record that contains > the family group. With the information from the index you can then find > the household on the original census page which will provide the names > of family members and others living in household, their ages, state of > birth and other information collected in that particular census year. > If you are near a National Archives you will usually find both the index > you need (if it exists) and the film of the census. Family Tree Maker > Online has several articles on census research. Go To: > http://www.familytreemaker.com/backissu.html > Hope this gets you started. If you return to Monterey, we have > excellent Family History Library branches and Sutro Genealogy Library > and National Archives in San Francisco area. > John Light John Light wrote: > > Nancy - I am sorry, but I won't be able to help you with the census > look-up offer. I do not have indices for the census. Census research > has essentially two steps. You must first find an index for the census > year and state you are researching at a genealogy library, online or CD > and look up the names you are interested in or you believe might be the > head of a household. If you have a Family History Library near you, > this is a good place to start and a volunteer can show you how to do an > index look-up; this is how I learned. Some public libraries will have > their own state index. With the head of household name you will find > the resident county and township (keep in mind I only have Lebanon Co. > years 1850-80) AND the page number in that census record that contains > the family group. With the information from the index you can then find > the household on the original census page which will provide the names > of family members and others living in household, their ages, state of > birth and other information collected in that particular census year. > If you are near a National Archives you will usually find both the index > you need (if it exists) and the film of the census. Family Tree Maker > Online has several articles on census research. Go To: > http://www.familytreemaker.com/backissu.html > Hope this gets you started. If you return to Monterey, we have > excellent Family History Library branches and Sutro Genealogy Library > and National Archives in San Francisco area. > John Light